Finlay Creek Fire

[my5cents]

I would like to thank Castanet.News for keeping their customers up to date on the Finlay Creek Fire. I live in Summerland and I thought I would be able to get up to date information from "somebody" in Summerland. I could not! Extremely frustrating and has not given me confidence in the future that I will be able to obtain information of where the fire is exactly.

You mean the flame icon on the BC Wildfire Service/Active Wildfires Interactive Map, isn't enough !!! ???

Or the "Wildfire of Note" that was updated at 6:56 PM yesterday.

That's OK, the government people who are in charge of this fire, and presumably advising citizens who, I'm sure in some cases are terrified and very anxious for information, have a caveat on the site:

"PLEASE NOTE: The information on this list is unofficial, and should not be used for media purposes. If there are discrepancies between this page and other official sources of information, such as a news release, the other source is likely the correct one. This page is updated once a day at midnight, so fires discovered today will not be listed."

So our best bet is the good old reliable media. Somehow the government doesn't have time to type up to date information on a web site, but does have time to inform the media.

That would be the media that was at the evacuation center in Summerland yesterday afternoon talking to people.... didn't know anything about the fire, and stated that they were recording comments from evacuated citizens, but realized that "Vancouver will probably not use it".

The longest segment on the interior fires on CTV last night was all about how smoky it was in the lower mainland because of all the fires.

So we have people at risk of loosing their homes and the media, that is, apparently the conduit by which the Wildfire Service is releasing "official information", is whining about smoke 400 km away, and providing little if any information on the actual fire.

Am I the only one who thinks this stinks (other than the smoke that is).

[tsayta]

The best source of information has been right here on the forums platform. Citizen reporting, boots on the ground

[LTD]

what info do you people really need? if your home isn't in the path of the fire the only info you need is exactly what youre getting the fire is still burning and it grew from this size to this size.

[mickey00]

With respect to the " big booms" with this fire and the obvious, potential causes checked, don't overlook a meth lab or similar! Would not have to be a residence as such!? Guess only!

[Poindexter]

Must be another fan of breaking bad.

It's fine. There wasn't even smoke up at Peachland Lake. The fire is far away.

Thx. Just read your earlier post about getting stuck, sounds like you still had a bit of an adventure getting back. Never like cutting a camping trip short but wise choice however, even though Ive never gone this route, Im pretty sure there's access to the Connector from there. Good reminder to always bring a back road guide along in case you need to find an alternate route out.

I'm wondering if the guy who's tickets are still in his pocket requires a quad to get to where he hunts. Otherwise it makes no sense to me either. No reason to have any flame at all and keep your vehicle on the road.

[LTD]

pittin road takes you to the connector

[JLives]

All of our vehicles have backwoods map books and fire extinguishers. We're seasoned outdoors people. The gate scared me for a bit. But thank you 4x4. He should have asked what I was doing when I passed him at the gate. His assumptions could have made for a dangerous situation.

[ecoforce]

How is it possible to say

""There has been no substantial growth of the fire. "

when there is 50% gain from 1000 to 1500?

Is this person stupid? I think we got a wrong person on the job. We are doomed, I hope our house is okay.

Fire information Officer Heather Rice, I hope she knows what she is talking about.

Is she gonna say "Not much burnt last night other than 4 houses" ? after my house is gone???

[daria]

Finlay Creek Fire holds overnight: News Release No. 3

There was no substantial change to the Finlay Creek wildfire overnight. For more information about the condition of the fire, visit the BC Wildfire Service website at http://bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca/hprScripts/WildfireNews.

All evacuation alerts remain in place. A detailed map is available showing the approximately 306 affected properties in the Central Okanagan at www.cordemergency.ca. For information about properties affected south of Peachland, visit the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen website at www.rdos.bc.ca.

Residents in these areas should be prepared to leave their homes on short notice should fire conditions change. Visit the be prepared webpage for more information.

The next update from the Central Okanagan Emergency Operation Centre is expected tomorrow, unless the situation changes.

Monitor www.cordemergency.ca, facebook.com/CORDEmergency or twitter.com/CO_Emerg for confirmed information about the situation.

[canuck500]

Re the gain in size did you not see where she mentioned that they got a better look at it since some of the smoke has lifted?

[PDT]

How is it possible to say

""There has been no substantial growth of the fire. "

when there is 50% gain from 1000 to 1500?

Typically when that happens is that they now have a more accurate estimate for the size of the fire.

[WalterWhite]

How is it possible to say

""There has been no substantial growth of the fire. "

when there is 50% gain from 1000 to 1500?

Is this person stupid? I think we got a wrong person on the job. We are doomed, I hope our house is okay.

Fire information Officer Heather Rice, I hope she knows what she is talking about.

Is she gonna say "Not much burnt last night other than 4 houses" ? after my house is gone???

Updated aerial mapping versus visual estimations. (ETA: visual estimations in poor visibility conditions)

[my5cents]

The information abounds.....

Castanet 4 September 2017 9:19 AM
The Finlay Creek wildfire near Peachland is estimated to have grown to 1,500 hectares in size.

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#205760

The CORD emergency site -

https://www.cordemergency.ca/updates/fi ... 09-04-1003

"Monday, September 4, 2017 - 10:03 AM
There was no substantial change to the Finlay Creek wildfire overnight. For more information about the condition of the fire, visit the BC Wildfire Service website at :

http://bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca/hprScri ... neFire.asp "

So.... Castanet reports the fire has grown from 1000 ha to 1500 ha but CORD say "there was no substantial change" ???????????

CORD then says, "For more information go to the BC Fire Info (and provide a link) that information is dated Sunday September 3, 2017 at 6:56 PM ???????????????????????

What a JOKE !

[dogspoiler]

I'm a little bit old school, I just go and look off my deck.

[lightspeed]

The information abounds.....

Castanet 4 September 2017 9:19 AM
The Finlay Creek wildfire near Peachland is estimated to have grown to 1,500 hectares in size.

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#205760

The CORD emergency site -

https://www.cordemergency.ca/updates/fi ... 09-04-1003

"Monday, September 4, 2017 - 10:03 AM
There was no substantial change to the Finlay Creek wildfire overnight. For more information about the condition of the fire, visit the BC Wildfire Service website at :

http://bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca/hprScri ... neFire.asp "

So.... Castanet reports the fire has grown from 1000 ha to 1500 ha but CORD say "there was no substantial change" ???????????

CORD then says, "For more information go to the BC Fire Info (and provide a link) that information is dated Sunday September 3, 2017 at 6:56 PM ???????????????????????

What a JOKE !

It's like the Iraqi Minister of Disinformation:

"I triple guarantee you, there are no American soldiers in Baghdad."